Once again, I decided to spend a month in the UK to avoid the blistering heat of West Texas in July. Once again, temperatures in England soared, making it the fourth hottest summer since 1910.
Five months pregnant and with no AC, I was a complete joy to be around the whole month!
It must be Heathrow!
This year, my UK blog is more of a photo blog. For one, I am so far behind and maternity leave probably won't afford me much time to catch up (I keep imagining maternity leave is going to be something like an extended summer vacation with to-do lists and lunch plans. Then I remember I will have a newborn baby to care for, and I seem to remember that being quite time consuming the first time around).
Mary spent lots of time learning about Romans. You can't visit my hometown and not learn about Romans and the Reivers.
It was kid activity week at Birdoswald Roman Fort. This place is a lot more fun and interesting than when I used to visit on school field trips. Back then, we would don our wellies (it was always raining on these days) and walk down Hadrian's Wall. We would be instructed to reenact some battle scene which usually meant scrambling over the wall in the rain and charging at the enemy, trying not to slip on the cow pats. My favorite part of those trips was the bus ride and my bait box (why do northern English folk call a lunch kit a "bait"?).
Mary learned about Roman musical instruments, clothing and weaponry.
Checking out the remains of some barracks
Someone has been here before :)
Sheep selfies
Then it was time to get serious. There was a battle looming and Mary had to prepare.
Again, a lot more fun than a wet-wellie scrummage.
While we were around Brampton, we stopped by Fruits and Shoots for some peaches and walked around my old school town.
On another day, we visited my old lunchtime haunt, the Capon Tree Cafe. They still serve delicious food and cakes and the stairs still feel like they're about to collapse any moment.
One place I had never visited was the Lakeland Bird of Prey Center. We spent an afternoon there looking at the birds, eating a picnic in the gardens, watching a demonstration, and visiting the quaint cafe. Wherever you visit in England, there will be a quaint little cafe.
The gardens are very Beatrix Potter. But then, all English gardens are.
Living in Midland, I forget what real gardens look like.
I taught Mary how to make daisy chains.
We found a magic doorway.
These were our favorite birds, the African Fish Eagle. We were amused, and a little alarmed by its call, which you can see on this YouTube vid:
Mary's favorite bird of prey; the Peregrine Falcon
The flight show was really interesting and informative.
Mary had the opportunity to handle some pretty impressive birds.
Said quaint cafe
We spent some time at Lanercost Priory, just a few miles outside of Brampton.
The beautiful and now tranquil setting of Augustinian Lanercost Priory belies an often troubled history. Standing close to Hadrian's Wall, it suffered frequent attacks during the long Anglo-Scottish wars, once by Robert Bruce in person. The mortally sick King Edward I rested here for five months in 1306-7, shortly before his death on his final campaign. Yet there is still much to see in this best-preserved of Cumbrian monasteries. The east end of the noble 13th century church survives to its full height, housing within its dramatic triple tier of arches some fine monuments.
Reading its noble history makes me feel a little guilty that we used it as a hideout when we wanted to skip class. I bet Ben and Kate remember the Jesus Loves You pencils.
Local artist drawing the priory
Another local place I used to frequent was Kirklinton Hall. We ambled around these old ruins long before the place attracted any attention from potential buyers, so imagine my surprise when I heard it was now a "Hall and Gardens" http://www.kirklintonhall.co.uk/
Sometime in the last few years, Kirklinton Hall was bought by a barrister, Chistopher Boyle. Mr. Boyle plans to restore the 17th century ruin to its former glory for his, now ten year old, son Henry and his future wife. Let's hope Henry doesn't grow up to defy his father and become a Caribbean Cruise entertainer or decide he'd rather live in Essex.
I met Amanda and her kiddos and we spent the afternoon checking out our old place.
At the forefront of the gardens is Longcleughside Beck, leading to the River Lyne. Alongside the beck is the Faerie Glen, a woodland walk where children can spy hidden fairies hanging from the trees and hiding in nooks. A walk over some footbridges will take you to the river, or you can sit up top on the bench and eat sweet peas as we did.
I was terrible at spotting fairies. Luckily, Billy has a keen eye.
We let the kids go off an finish the fairy hunt.
It's hard to imagine how on earth this place can be restored without tearing it down first. I'm pleased someone is trying. It's a magical place and it will be a formidable home.
Next installment.... Liverpool and the Giant Puppets...
1 comment:
you must take me to England one day. you must. when we are 50.
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